Anthropomorphic Agitprop!
Dorogu Kukuruzyeh, Na Fermi! (Дорогу кукурузе, на фермы)! Artist unknown.
Make Way For Corn, On To The Farm!
Soviet
poster from Khrushchev's corn campaign, 1955. For a few years corn
thrived on Soviet soil when there was a short
period of hot summers. After this small success, Khrushchev pushed for
even more radical agricultural goals. However, the Soviet over-extension
into colder territories that couldn’t support the growth of corn
coupled with a lack in agricultural technology and an absence of a
proper climate, corn started to fail the Soviet economy. The Soviet
Union did not put forth the quantities they predicted, and so the
popularity of it as a staple food as well as Khrushchev’s own popularity
plummeted. It was
mostly used to feed the livestock, so in the propaganda poster we see
many animals that would in theory be eating the corn. In 1962 the corn
crop tanked dramatically and some 80 percent of it was lost, the labor
involved was three times that of wheat, and the hay production had
declined throughout the country, from 64 million tons in 1953 to 47
million in 1965. By aggressively expanding acreage without
consideration of climate or labor availability this became a major
agricultural disaster.
In this superior picture the corn is 'passing in review', they have just executed an 'eyes right'. The one second from left has his stalk held incorrectly and will get an earful from his sergeant.
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